I’m interested in reader reaction to this question.
At present, I don’t really have an advertising “policy” except that I’ve tucked a few national ads in the sidebars, with only minimal control from my end on the content. I can, and have, excluded specific advertisers because their views/values are just too contrary to my own, but by and large, I don’t pay much attention to them apart from an occasional chuckle over unintended irony.
It’s not like this site is anywhere close to self-sustaining anyway, so a few ads during the political season might bring a little welcome income but won’t make a substantive financial difference.
And there are a lot of tricky questions to be addressed. There’s no luxury of a “firewall” between editorial and advertising with a small blog like this. So will paid advertising by Candidate A influence, even if indirectly, what I choose to write about? Or will it encourage you, my readers, to suspect hidden influence? If so, should I limit candidates to those I could support? Remain open to all?
I’m a bit inclined to sidestep advertising and instead encourage candidates who want to increase their exposure here to simply make themselves more readily available for questions, interviews, etc.
But I’m interested in how you feel about the matter.
Comments, please.
Well, since limits are out and disclosure is all the rage, I say go ahead and accept ads and then disclose, disclose, disclose.
After all, that’s what MSM does and I don’t take their claims of firewalls even remotely seriously.
Not meaning to sound flip, and certainly not to equate you with MSM, it’s just me thinking out loud in the moment I have to think at all. I think your readers would probably expect that the politicians you choose would be like-minded and that, if you disagreed on some particular, the fact that you accepted a paid ad is not going to cause you to withhold comment that you would otherwise make.
I have been accused of being a corporate shill because I accept google adsense adverts on my blog. I wrote back to the reader that he could always get an adblocker if he objected to adverts. Almost all blogs run adverts now, so it’s been normalized IMO. Subscriptions simply don’t work for blogs, so we’re left with adverts as the only source of revenue (that and donations.)
Honestly, I think that since you work on the inside you shouldnt blog period. if I were an elected offcial, I would a) never hire you or your relatives b) Never respond to any question you posed. How do we know if the person whose signing your checks does somethng unethical your not looking the other way? How do we know your questions arent being written by your employer in a biased way.
I say stop working at the leg and blog full time. And then you can advertise all you want…
I would say go all or nothing… accept advertisements from all politicians or none at all. And with that said, I think I’d prefer not seeing any political ads here at all, and have you allow guest entries by candidates and other political figures.
Not being from Hawaii, I do enjoy the photos that are posted on your website, for me political ads would be a distraction, I get enough of those through other media and find this site as a bit of escape from the cold and snow of the northeast NY.
As a daily reader of your blog (and former resident of Ka’a'awa) I enjoy reading what YOU have to say. Political adverts would not be appreciated, in fact, they would lessen the appeal of your site. My 2 cents.
I’m in agreement with Jay in that I visit here daily for your opinion. An ad from a politician (to me) would appear to be your endorsement…and I think it would be visually distracting.
I think you might be under-estimating your readers.
I suspect that readers here are less likely to be influenced by advertisements than a general newspaper audience.
A Palin advertisement isn’t going to shake anyone’s confidence in your credibility or message.
And linking to Hawaii Reporter or Drudge Report isn’t going to detract from your blog. In fact, it shows you are balanced and open-minded.
In the end, most of us are searching for smart reporting and analysis — no matter if it comes from the left or the right.
I recall your blog being influential somehow in a Duke Bainum vote. If you were to accept political endorsements it would reflect on your credibility. Oh, what to do . . .
Accept and fully disclose. Just NO popups. And dont change an opinon just because you got one ad.
well hopefully you won’t stoop so low or be able to stoop so low as CHARLES MEMMINGER of the Advertiser whose blog seems to be an advertisement for himself. As well as not funny. So now you know the basement.
Since you asked, I vote for no adverts of any kind. I can’t imagine they generate much revenue, and IMHO, they detract from the attractiveness of your site.
I noted that on the Advertiser tonight it was blocking comments about the Aiona proposal “Aiona proposes sports commission to bring more events to Islands” but still had the space where you could try to file them, but other news items did allow comments. But the “University of Hawaii faculty approve cost-cutting contract” article and others were apparently accepting comments, judging from the flow of ideas. China has this sort of censorship. Nice to know the Advertiser does also. Just don’t stand down wind.
i use an ad blocker on my browser, so i don’t see anything, which i think is pretty great (especially for ad-heavy sites like the S-B).
although, in general, i agree with your instincts to sidestep advertising and encourage politicians who want exposure to make themselves more available to the media. gosh… just simply returning a phone call is one huge step in the right direction.
Don’t run political ads. Been TV free for 13 yrs and don’t welcome creep of political advertising into my favorite sites. I’d rather hear your analysis of the candidate’s positions on various issues. Like, subsidies on Little Friskies.
Aloha,
The Cats
Ian, NO ads, period. I hate them. Be like me: poor but honest.
Aloha Ian,
I think the fact that you are asking your readers what we think sends a clear message – you care about sharing with us more than making huge profits. Just because the journalism business model isn’t working right now doesn’t mean quality journalism has died. You’re one example.
Many other bloggers write posts and call them “sponsored conversations” or something similar. That might be crossing a line for you, so I think AdSense or even larger ads can be tolerated by we readers. Besides, I think of it as my little way of helping when I click on one for you.
I say do whatever you have to do to be able to show the world what asking the right questions is all about, i.e. blogging. Knowing that Meda just took a pay cut, it’s hard to advocate for no ads when you might need them most. In these tough times, every bit helps, right?
Mahalo,
Capsun
I think that you should only take political ads that are paid for by foreign corporations.
(Otherwise do what you like with disclosure.)
I meant: (Otherwise do what you like, but please disclose your policy.)
I agree with Bill – I don’t see your readers as likely to be influenced by any advertising. And I doubt if you would have so many loyal readers if we thought you were susceptible to the influence of advertisements.
But then I don’t need to use an ad blocker – I completely ignore advertisements on web pages. My eyes never even focus on them. If you can supplement your income by picking up a few more, go ahead. I won’t even notice them.
Aloha Ian,
I agree with Mr. Exbor. Just because you don’t generate much revenue (Can I even call it that?) with ads, it helps, I imagine, maintain this blog.
I’m not a fan of the photos of cats and dogs (I don’t hate them, I just come here for the political analysis and the wonderful narrative about your father’s life a the Hawai’i of yesteryear made possible through your father’s possessions.) If I can ignore the cats and dogs, the political ads will not dissuade me from frequenting this site.
Ultimately, it is your decision to make, but I’m with you either way.
Surprised nobody has responded to “The Truth”. Here are some questions for you Ian:
Will you accept ads for a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor? What if that candidate is not your current boss? Is your political coverage slanted based on your job (i.e. working for a specific legislator)? Is your political coverage objective and unbiased now? Have you ever reported anything unfavorable or favorable concerning your current boss?
This pretend transparency is unnecessary as long as you are working for a specific politician during the legislative session. Go ahead and accept advertising and slant your blogging in favor of the advertiser.
I enjoy your content and as a little girl remember much of your writing. I’ve been a fan ever since.
With blogging as a platform some people try to monetize it with advertising. I hope you don’t monetize it with political ads but it’s your blog. I appreciate your candor and can do without political ads.
This whole Wikileaks fiasco is pretty crazy. You should check out http://voteonwikileaks.com. It’s a recently launched website that seems to be going viral. They got something like 50,000 visitors in the first 24 hours of launch. It’s sort of like a crowdsourced collection of arguments against and for Wikileaks. As a blog owner, you’d probably find some of the opinions there a good read.